Johnson Is Positive He’ll Do the Job for Bruins

UCLA’s new starting quarterback is not easily vexed.

Fret?

Not Bret.

Bret Johnson, in fact, brings to Westwood a trait that some say the Bruins have not always carried in abundant supply: Self-assurance.

Cockiness?

Well, maybe that, too.

“He does not lack for self-confidence,” Bruin lineman Scott Spalding said of Johnson, his teammate at El Toro High School.

At El Toro, Johnson was so confident that occasionally he would stand over center, stare down the defenders and tell them what was coming next.

“Some guy would be popping off and he’d say, ‘We’re coming right over you, buddy,’ ” said Spalding, an offensive guard. “And there we’d go. And we’d probably get five yards out of it, too.”

Shut them right up.

“He’s what you want in a quarterback,” said Bob Johnson, Bret’s father and high school coach. “He loves that position and he loves what comes with it--the pressure. He thrives on those all-or-nothing situations. He thrives on Saturday night. And he always has.”

Actually, to this point, Johnson has thrived on Friday night.

Named last week to start at quarterback in the Bruins’ opener against Tennessee Saturday night in the Rose Bowl, Johnson, 19, has yet to take a snap at UCLA.

Is he concerned that he might not be able to cut it?

Be serious.

“I don’t have any doubts that I’m going to perform well Saturday night,” he said.

Why so sure?

“The position that I play, you’ve got to be confident,” Johnson said. “You can’t be a second-guesser and hope you’ll do something right. You’ve got to feel that you’re going to play well.”

That philosophy served Johnson well at El Toro, where two years ago he was named the state’s high school player of the year by Cal-Hi Sports of Sacramento.

The 6-foot, 188-pound Johnson led El Toro to two consecutive Southern Conference championships, passing for 6,538 yards and 63 touchdowns in a three-year varsity career. His last-second, 51-yard heave against Santa Ana two years ago, giving El Toro a 13-12 victory in the conference semifinals, is still one of the most talked-about plays in Orange County prep football circles.

Though high school rival Todd Marinovich set an all-time national high school passing record, many believed that Johnson was a better prospect.

Coach Mike Milner of Fountain Valley, whose teams played against both Marinovich--now at USC--and Johnson, called Johnson the best high school quarterback he’d ever seen.

“He’s an unbelievable talent, unbelievable competitor, throws the ball better than anyone I’ve ever seen at the high school level in terms of accuracy, velocity, quick feet, quarterback mechanics,” said Milner, who is a friend of the Johnsons. “I’ve seen (Vince) Ferragamo and I’ve seen (Pat) Haden and I’ve even seen (John) Elway. And he compares at the high school level with any of those.”

Johnson made recruiting trips to USC, Penn State and Notre Dame, ultimately choosing UCLA over Notre Dame despite his mother’s fondness for the campus and the atmosphere at Notre Dame.

“I’m a California kid,” Johnson said of his decision.

Said his father: “He loves the beach and he loves shorts and thongs and shades.”

By all accounts, the curly-haired, brown-eyed Johnson also loves competition. His teams were 24-0 in games he started in his last two seasons at El Toro. He also was an honors student and a two-time All-Southern Section selection as a point guard in basketball.

His favorite athlete, in fact, is Magic Johnson of the Lakers.

“It seems like he just gets the job done,” Johnson said of Magic. “He’s not too concerned about how many points he gets. If he needs to get some rebounds, he gets some rebounds. He just wins. I kind of like that about him.”

Coaches and teammates like that about Bret Johnson, too.

“He’s got a ton of charisma and self-confidence and that carries over into the huddle,” Spalding said. “I think in high school he was viewed as cocky. He’s not cocky. He’s good and he knows it. And when you’re around him, you can’t help but be confident, too.”

UCLA Coach Terry Donahue announced after spring practice that sophomore Jim Bonds had a slight edge over Johnson in their bid to replace Troy Aikman as the Bruins’ starting quarterback, but Johnson put together a strong fall camp to overtake his strong-armed rival from Hart High in Newhall.

Johnson “improved considerably from where he was in the spring,” Donahue said. “He’s stronger, has gained weight. He’s better in the pocket. He’s not as jittery. He’s more comfortable and he has a more complete understanding of the offensive system than he did in the spring.”

Johnson has added 18 pounds since last season, when he ran the scout team as a redshirt. He beat out Bonds with his consistency in practice, ultimately forcing Donahue’s hand last Thursday, when he completed seven of nine passes for 83 yards and led the offense to a pair of touchdowns in an intra-squad scrimmage at the Rose Bowl.

Meanwhile, Bonds completed only two of seven passes and had three passes intercepted.

And so, for the first time since 1965, when sophomore Gary Beban started for the Bruins in a 13-3 loss against Michigan State, UCLA will open the season with a starting quarterback who has never played in a college game.

“I’m really excited,” Johnson said. “I have a quote up in my room that I’ve kind of saved from about three years ago, when I played in the (Southern Section) finals with El Toro. Scott Ross (a former teammate who now plays for USC) said about three days before the game that he felt like a 4-year-old waiting for Christmas. I can relate to that. I feel like that right now.”

Bret fret?

Not a chance.